How To String Acoustic Guitars

By: ShawnD

Break Studios Contributing Writer

You can't rock out on a guitar without any strings, so stop pretending to be a folk rock god and learn how to string acoustic guitars. The acoustic guitar strings, whether they are nylon or metal, are held under high tension so that they vibrate rapidly when you strike them. It is these vibrations that you hear as music. You may think that you have to be a guitar tech to properly string acoustic guitars, but it is actually something that anyone can do in just a few minutes.

Things You Will Need:

New guitar strings
Pliers

Steps

Position the acoustic guitar in front of you so that it is laying flat and the neck is pointing to the left.
Remove the pegs that are in the holes to the right of the bridge. Pull them straight up, and use pliers if you have to. If the guitar already had strings, you can now remove them.
Take the largest of the replacement strings. Replacement acoustic guitar strings come in a pack of six, with each having a slightly different thickness.
Insert the nut on one end of the string into the hole on the acoustic guitar that is closest to you. Insert the nut so that it is several inches down.
Place a peg into the hole and push it down. Place your thumb over it to hold it down and pull up on the string. The nut will lock itself between the peg and the side of the hole, making it unable to move.
Run the string along the length of the acoustic guitar and hold it over the tuning pegs. The string should run directly over the peg that is on your side of the guitar and furthest to the right.
Cut the string about 2 and 1/2-inches past the tuning peg.
Insert the end of the string into the peg so that just a little bit comes through the other side of the hole.
Turn the knob next to the tuning peg counterclockwise. The string will wind around the peg. Hold the string down so that each loop is beneath the pervious one.
Repeat the process for every string on the acoustic guitar. The strings will get less thick as you go down the guitar and each successive string will use the next tuning peg, moving in a clockwise direction from the first one.